Month: May 2022

Central States Fall

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://burypensions.wordpress.com/2022/05/09/central-states-fall/

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Excerpt:

All 1,298 pages of the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund bailout application is on the SFA website but, for me, it is these two pages that tell the tale of the fall of this and many other union pension plans.

…..

Funded ratio: 21.91%

Unfunded Liabilities as of 1/1/20: $43,878,930,013

Asset Value (Market) as of 12/31/20: $10,409,490,502

Contributions 2020 (MB): $662,009,633

Contributions 2020 (H): $406,600,320

Payouts 2020: $2,842,184,040

Expenses 2019: $53,552,2071

Author(s): John Bury

Publication Date: 9 May 2022

Publication Site: burypensions

COVID-19 Deaths Cause More Than $700M in Q1 Claims

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2022/05/09/covid-19-deaths-continue-to-hit-life-insurers-hard/

Excerpt:

Reinsurance Group of America — a Chesterfield, Missouri-based reinsurer — said its U.S. COVID-19 individual life claims fell to $260 million in the latest quarter, from $340 million a year earlier.

“Our U.S. individual mortality results are very consistent with what we are seeing in the general population this quarter,” Jonathan Porter, RGA’s global chief risk officer, said Friday, during a conference call with securities analysts. “We saw a reduction in our claim cost per 10,000 general population deaths as compared to the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2021. This improvement, we believe, is in part due to the lower proportion of deaths in working ages.”

Here’s what happened to U.S. COVID-19 claim statistics at some other life insurers, including some that are known mainly for group life:

MetLife: $230 million in world group life claims this quarter, down from $280 million a year earlier.

Hartford Financial: $96 million before taxes this quarter, down from $185 million a year earlier.

Unum: 1,400 deaths at an average of $55,000, or $77 million, down from 1,725 deaths at an average of $65,000, or $112 million, a year earlier.

Lincoln Financial: $53 million in group life claim claims and $18 million in group disability claims this quarter, down from $83 million in group life claims and $7 million in group disability claims a year earlier.

Voya: $35 million in group life claims this quarter, up from $29 million a year earlier.

Primerica: $16 million in life claims this quarter, down from $21 million a year earlier.

Author(s): Allison Bell

Publication Date: 9 May 2022

Publication Site: Think Advisor

Few Retirees Leave Workforce Gradually: EBRI

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2022/05/02/few-retirees-leave-workforce-gradually-ebri/

Excerpt:

The 32nd EBRI survey found 7 in 10 workers were at least somewhat confident they would live comfortably in retirement.

Half of workers plan to retire at 65 or later, while current retirees left the workforce at a median age of 62.

Large shares of workers say they don’t understand managed accounts, ESG investments or target date funds.

Author(s): Ginger Szala

Publication Date: 2 May 2022

Publication Site: Think Advisor

The Fed’s Preferred Measure of Inflation Jumps to 6.6%, a 40-Year High

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://mishtalk.com/economics/the-feds-preferred-measure-of-inflation-jumps-to-6-6-a-40-year-high

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Excerpt:

The PCE price index for March increased 6.6 percent from one year ago, reflecting increases in both goods and services. 

Energy prices increased 33.9 percent

Food prices increased 9.2 percent. 

Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index for March increased 5.2 percent from one year ago.

Author(s): Mike Shedlock

Publication Date: 30 April 2022

Publication Site: Mish Talk

President Biden changing his mind on student loan forgiveness ‘is a tremendous victory,’ Rep. Pressley says

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/student-loan-forgiveness-biden-pressley-141234731.html

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Excerpt:

Pressley, alongside Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have repeatedly called on Biden to cancel $50,000 in student loan debt immediately via executive order on the premise that there is sufficient legal backing for the administration to do so.

….

Cancelling $10,000 in student loan debt per borrower would help the most number of borrowers at the lowest cost, recent research from the New York Fed found.

The Fed researchers, using data from the New York Fed/Equifax Consumer Credit Panel, estimated the cost of two federal loan forgiveness proposals, one for $10,000 and another for $50,000. They found that limited forgiveness and placing income caps on who would be eligible would “distribute a larger share of benefits” to low-income borrowers while also reducing the cost of forgiveness.

Rep. Pressley has repeatedly stressed that women and people of color hold significant levels of student loan debt and that cancellation would represent a massively impactful form of relief given the disproportionate burden.

Author(s): Aarthi Swaminathan

Publication Date: 30 Apr 2022

Publication Site: Yahoo Finance